Overhaul
by MissLavery
Summary: Akatsuki is a dangerous place... and Tenten decides she will be working there for the summer. AU.
1. Chapter 1

**The Garage**

Tenten knew she never should have come as soon as she saw the place.

"_Akatsuki Garage_, the newspaper ad had said.

"_Wanted:Auto-technician_"

Tenten was an absolutely average person. Average looking; average height, even her personality was pretty average. She had never stood out in school, where she usually had pretty average grades and had an average group of friends. She had strolled through high school and from some strange twist of luck, got into one of the top Universities in her country; Konoha University. That did her no good though, since everybody in there was such a geek, she, in turn, was failing miserably compared to them.

"You can do better, you have the ability." Her professor had told her a day before breaking off for the summer holidays. She had shrugged. She was used to being average, and that was what she was right now. She could not see the point in striving for anything better. One, because she knew she had a pretty average IQ to begin with; she was no genius or even considered bright by any chance. Why waste the time? Her professor had sighed at her reaction.

"What you need is some passion; some fire to inspire you!" He had said. "Why don't you take advantage of your holidays and go get an internship or something? It would benefit and prepare you for next year, and it might even put some kind of emotion in you." He chuckled at his own little joke.

"Ok, I'll see what I can do." She had replied. If it made him happy…

Therefore, Tenten spent the next few days flipping through newspapers and websites. Sure, there were plenty of internships suitable for a Mechanical Engineering student; but it was rock solid hard trying to find something suitable for _her. _Tenten was only doing this so she could achieve some sort of pass from her professor, so she was not about to apply for something as demanding as:

_Hyuuga Motor Company Limited: Internship Program_

_Wanted: Students majoring in Mechanical Engineering_

_Must be available 6 days a week_

_School's recommendation required_

That could be saved for somebody like Hyuuga Neji, that big genius who sat in the row behind her. Oh, no wait, his uncle owned that company, so he was probably doing it every summer since he was eight years old anyway.

Ah, but this:

_Akatsuki Garage_

_Wanted: Auto-technician_

_Young, strong, obedient, no experience required. Training provided if necessary. _

_Working hours 1pm-9pm; 4 days a week. _

_Please contact Uchiha Itachi._

It was perfect; everything she had been looking for. The site was only a half hour drive from her apartment; working hours were late, which meant no early mornings; only 4 days a week; and, _no experience required_. In other words: 'Desperate employers who would drool at their sheer luck a Konoha University student was even considering working there.' Not that she was even real Konoha University material anyway… but they weren't going to know that

Tenten gaped at the place as she stepped out of her car and onto the gravel floor. She had not been expecting some high-tech Mercedes Benz factory; but she had not been expecting this either. The rocky drive she had driven up led to a one story, low, flat roofed building. It was old, and much of the white paint was peeling off the cement wall. She could see a few cars standing through the opened metal garage doors. The large, rectangular sign which was fading and dusted; was the only thing which told her she was at the right location.

She looked around, but nobody seemed to be at work. Where was everybody?

"Hello." Tenten jumped; she had not noticed anyone come up behind her. She turned towards the low, velvet drawl, and saw a blond, long haired man gazing down at her. He smirked and licked his lips when their eyes met.

"Uh…hi." She replied, unconsciously tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.

"I'm looking for Uchiha Itachi."

The blond man cocked his head to one side and grinned wider.

"Itachi, you say?" he asked, amusement radiating heavily from his voice now.

"What would a pretty girl like you…" he lifted her chin up with his thumb.

"…be doing in a place like this; looking for a person like _Itachi_?" He seemed genuinely curious.

Tenten jerked her head away uneasily from the stranger.

"I saw an ad on the news…" she began, rummaging through her bag. "Let me find it…here somewhere."

The stranger watched her delightedly as she searched.

"Found it." She breathed, handing the crumpled piece of paper to him.

"I want to work here."

The blond man blinked twice at the ad, then, threw his head back to laugh, his howling echoing into the hot air.

"_You_?" He choked in between his bursts of amusement.

Tenten felt her face heating up. Why was this man laughing? She couldn't see anything funny about it. Was there some kind of joke she had missed?

"Yes. Me." She snapped, putting her hands on her hips. "Where is Uchiha Itachi?" The blond man breathed to calm himself down, wiping tears from his eyes.

"I…I'm sorry young lady. There must be some mistake or misunderstanding here…"

"What's there to misunderstand?" She demanded. "You want an auto-technician, here's one." She pointed to herself.

"No, I mean…"

"I'm a mechanical engineering student from Konoha University." There, that ought to keep his pretty mouth shut. Instead, she was surprised it made him burst out in another round of laughter. She was dumbfounded.

"What!?" She exclaimed. "What's so funny?"

The blond shook his head.

"I'm sorry, pretty. I don't think this place is for people like Konoha University students." He handed the newspaper back to her.

"Go home." He said, and began walking off.

"H…hey!" she yelled. "What do you mean? So…does that mean you're not hiring me, or what? I want to see Itachi!"

He did not stop, but turned around to look at her.

"Itachi's not here today. Try again tomorrow." He grinned.

"M…maybe I will!" She shouted, and stomped back to her car.

Meanwhile, the blond man walked over and into to a small office next to the garage. He chuckled at a pale, muscular boy a few years younger than he was; with raven dark hair and solid black eyes. He was sitting in a couch, head resting on a hand and staring out the window.

"Did you see that, Sasuke?" the blond laughed, shaking his head. "Poor girl; doesn't even know what she's asking for."

Sasuke smirked.

"I have a feeling she'll be back tomorrow, Deidera." He said quietly as he watched the furious girl zoom off in her car. It was an old, black Ford Fiesta from the 90s, not bad for a college student who could only afford second-hand autos.

"Well good luck to her then." Deidera mused. "I hope she comes after 3 o' clock though, or Orochimaru might be a problem. You know him…"

"Hn."

Tenten slammed at the gas pedal, listening as her car complained at her demand for speed. She ignored it. Ok, so she hadn't wanted the job that much anyway, but she hated being mocked. Who did that man think he was? She was not about to give up without a fight now.

**Hah! I finally have this story up and about. I spent a huge chunk of time researching on automobiles for this story, since I am no car expert. I've always been a NejiTen, SasuSaku person, but honestly, 'Neji' and 'mafia' don't mix, no matter how you put it. Neither does 'Sakura' and 'engineer' – thus the birth of this sexy pairing in thy story. Lol!**


	2. Chapter 2

**The Small Conflict**

Tenten glanced at her watch. It was two o' clock sharp. If their working hours began at one, then surely, Uchiha Itachi would be at work by now. She climbed into her trusty Ford Fiesta; one which she had got straight after passing her driver's test a few years ago. It was not anything expensive or fast, but it wasn't a bad car either. It was average, like everything else about her.

She sped along the roads, watching as the line of houses became more and more sporadic, until finally, there were none at all. The Akatsuki Garage was really in the middle of nowhere; she wondered how the hell they managed any business at all.

Tenten ran through a number of approaches in her head. She could go for 'The Beg': "Please, please, please let me work here!" but that did not appeal to her much. Maybe 'Superiority' would work: "I'm from Konoha University, so be honored by my presence.", but from what she saw yesterday, she doubted its effectiveness. Intimidation? "If you don't hire me, I'll tell all my friends never to come again!" Pfft, as if they knew what this place was to begin with.

"Are you_ sure_ you want to work at this place?" her best friend Ino had said to her last night.

"I mean, by the sounds of it, it seems pretty skanky."

"It's not that bad." Tenten defended, poking at her Chinese takeout with her chopsticks.

"Don't let the anger mess up your head, hun." Ino patted her on the hand. "You could get plenty of jobs somewhere better. I mean, this is _Konoha University _we're talking about! That would just throw anyone off their seats!"

Tenten nodded, but she knew there was no 'somewhere better'. Nowhere else offered 9 hours a day, 4 days a week. Plus, most internships required school recommendation letters; which she was in absolutely no position to ask for at the moment.

Ino shivered.

"Just remember; if anything dodgy happens, run for it. I've heard places like these are actually nests for mafias, and…"

"Oh, please, Ino!" Tenten rolled her eyes. "You watch _way_ too much television."

"Just saying." Ino shrugged. "That blond guy sounds weird enough. Maybe I should go with you tomorrow."

"No." Tenten scowled. "It's Kiba's birthday tomorrow. You haven't seen him for days."

"But…"

"I'll be fine!"

Ino pouted.

"Alright, but promise me you'll be careful."

"Yes mom!" Tenten laughed. Ino smiled as well. Bringing up her boyfriend always worked.

As she pulled up the same gravel drive of the garage, she immediately noticed something different from yesterday. The building was just as old, and the sign just as faded. But this time, the place was alive; full of people rushing around. As she stepped out of the car, she could not help but feel uneasy, as if there was a thick sheet of panic and alarm in the air.

There were at least 10 people around today, all whom seemed to be in a hurry and totally oblivious to her arrival. Some sort of loading operation seemed to be going on.

Parked in the opening of one of the garages, were 3, blue Dodge Sprinter Wagons. People were bringing up huge boxes from a small warehouse behind a garage she hadn't noticed the last time she came. Near one of the vans, she caught sight of the long haired blond she had seen yesterday, loading the boxes into the back.

She walked up to him.

"What the hell is up with him?" Tenten heard him mumble as she neared.

"TELL SASORI TO GET HIS FUCKING ASS BACK HERE RIGHT NOW!" He suddenly bellowed over at a group of men at the far side of the garage. "WE NEED THOSE FUCKING VANS!" Tenten bit her lip.

"Um, hi." She said. He looked up and frowned.

"You again?" he wiped sweat off his forehead with the back of his hand.

"Look, pretty. This really is a bad time. You shouldn't be here. Watch out." He pushed her aside roughly, but she realized a huge box had been thrown and would have smacked her right in the head if she had not moved. He caught it steadily, and Tenten could not help but ogle at just how strong he was. Unless it was full of feathers, the box, which she could have easily fit into, must have been pretty heavy.

"I…I just need to talk to Itachi."

The blond threw the box into the back as if it weighed of nothing at all. He narrowed his eyes at her.

"You never give up, do you?" he growled. "He's over in the office, but seriously, I wouldn't bother him right now."

"Deidera" A girl with flaming red hair and glasses ran up to them, panting heavily.

"Sasori says he'll be here in 5 minutes." She said.

"He fucking better be." Deidera swore. "Thank you, Karin." The girl nodded, until she noticed Tenten. The light smile on her lips disappeared. Frowning, Karin gave her, to Tenten's interpretation, a dirty look.

"Who's she?" Karin asked, never taking her eyes off her.

"Wha… oh, her?" Deidera looked up and followed Karin's gaze. He shook his head.

"Nobody who concerns you. Get back to work."

Karin narrowed her eyes, but obeyed and turned to leave in a swift motion; swishing her fiery hair. Deidera chuckled.

"My my. How interesting." He murmured to himself. He looked back at Tenten.

"Well what are you doing still standing here?" he asked.

"Uh, yeah. The office is…?" she asked, looking around.

"Over there."

"Thanks."

Tenten tried to keep out of people's ways, but they seemed to be everywhere, moving swiftly and solemnly. Some looked at her curiously, others ignored her, and there were those who, like Karin, gave her hostile glances. She reached a wooden door painted in shiny black paint, which she assumed, led to the office. She knocked twice, and had to wait 5 seconds before a smooth male voice answered.

"Come in."

She pushed the door open, and saw a handsome, dark haired man with lines underneath his eyes. He was having a heated conversation on the phone, and his perfect brows were vexed.

"…It's not about _that_; it's about who he is! Do you have any idea what he will do?" he said.

"I understand. Thank you. Goodbye." He put the phone down, and looked up at Tenten. His reaction was a surprise; the first friendly one ever since her arrival at this place.

"Hello." He smiled. "How can I help you?"

"You're Uchiha Itachi?" she asked.

"I am."

Tenten sighed in relief.

"My name is Tenten." She started, reaching out a hand towards Itachi, who shook it eagerly.

"I er… saw an ad in the papers." She held up the article she had cut out.

"I'm a Mechanical Engineer student from Konoha University. I was hoping to apply for this job."

Itachi cocked his head to one side as he read the ad in her hand, and chuckled.

"I see. I think there's a bit of a er…_misunderstanding_ here, Miss..."

"Just call me Tenten. And I really don't understand. Everyone here seems to be telling me this job isn't right for me, and how there's been a misunderstanding. I'm really confused. If you don't want an Auto-Technician, why on earth did you put this ad up?"

Itachi shook his head.

"It was right for the people here to say that. This job really isn't for you. I'm afraid…"

"But… but I'm from Konoha University! What more do you _want_?" she asked incredulously.

Itachi chuckled.

"I'm sorry, Tenten. As I was saying before you _mildly_ interrupted me, I'm afraid this isn't a matter of who _you_ are; it's a matter of what _we_ do."

"Well, what _do_ you do?" she asked, putting her hands on her hips.

"Ah, all these questions." Itachi smirked. "Don't you think it should be my turn now?" Tenten bit her lip to keep herself from losing her temper. Itachi did not wait for an answer.

"I'm interested to know… why would a Konoha student want to work in a place like this?"

"I… uh… I have my reasons." She felt stupid.

"Well, in that case; I suppose neither am I obliged to answer your questions. Good day to you."

He picked up the phone and started dialing again. Tenten was about to open her mouth to speak. 'The Beg' seemed like a good option now. However, a loud screeching and revving of engines from outside interrupted the two of them.

"What was that?" Tenten asked, trying to get a glimpse out of the window. Itachi slammed his phone down and walked over to the window. He turned to look at Tenten.

"Shit," he whispered.

"What!?" she demanded.

Unexpectedly, Itachi grabbed her by the shoulders.

"Whatever happens out there." He breathed at her dangerously.

"Do. Not. Leave. This. Room."

"Wha…"

"Just do as you're told." He grumbled.

"Don't make any noise; just…don't do anything until I come back." And he pushed her down onto the couch before rushing out the door.


	3. Chapter 3

**The Settlement**

It took a few minutes before Tenten fully understood what was happening, and still then, she was confused. This garage was so… so_ strange_. It was dodgy, like Ino had said. 4 days a week and late working hours; it sounded like a fraud more than anything else, and she had known it. Emptiness one day and then suddenly thriving the next; with workers doing nothing associated with car fixing should have further confirmed the uneasiness in the back of her head. Yet, Tenten was too proud. That had always been her weakness. She had decided to give this place a try; she had been warned, yet just one mock, and she was blind to all logic.

Sighing, Tenten leaned back onto the sofa, wondering what she had gotten herself into now. The chair squeaked at her movement. She froze, not wanting to make anymore noise.

"_Don't make any noise; just…don't do anything until I come back_." The way Itachi had said it made Tenten dare not disobey.

She heard car doors slam, and then crunching footsteps from the gravel floor. Muted voices drifted into the room; not anything clear enough for her to understand; but voices nonetheless. The first to speak was Itachi, she recognized the thick, deep quality. Then, a slow, crackly man's voice filled Tenten's ears in reply. It was horrible; like nails on a board, and it sent chills up her spine.

Curiosity got the best of her, and she decided taking a little peek would not hurt. Very slowly, Tenten leaned over to the side of the window and carefully lifted a curtain with a finger. She glanced out the window.

Itachi was standing at the entrance with the rest of his men (and woman, Tenten noted Karin's hair in the crowd). Everybody seemed to have stopped their activities, and were all standing in a line behind Itachi; as if building a wall between the garage and the intruder. Tenten could only assume he was an intruder; everybody looked uneasy.

The appearance of the man who had just arrived sent another wave of chills up Tenten's spine. He certainly lived up to his voice. His skin was abnormally pale; almost grey. His hair was long and dry; and unlike Itachi who put his hair up in a neat ponytail; this man's hair was unruly and simply seemed to be everywhere. His nose was merely two slits between his mouth and eyes… his eyes – Tenten could not look straight into them. Beside this man, stood a shorter one who looked about five years older than she was. He looked wise, and had glasses. He stood a little behind the first man, staying out of the conversation. Behind them, Tenten recognized a black, shiny car – the villain's car.

She had always liked to call the Maybach Exelero 'The Evil Car' because it certainly looked the part. The first time she saw it, she could not help but see the resemblance of the front of the car to an angry, villain's face. The headlights, especially, reminded her of deeply evil eyes. Kind of like the ones the scary man had right now. You are what you drive, she supposed.

**

"Orochimaru, it's been… a while." Itahci spoke first. The said man licked his lips

"Indeed," He said quietly. A few of the men behind Itachi twitched. Orochimaru glanced at the vans and boxes hiding behind the wall of people.

"Going somewhere?" He asked delightedly.

"Ah, no." Itachi replied. "We're just…relocating some of our stuff; paperwork, that's all."

Orochimaru threw his head back to laugh.

"You must have a lot of paperwork for so many vans." He commented. Itachi merely nodded once.

At this moment, a loud revving of engines from the distance interrupted the conversation. The two new arrivals turned around in mild confusion and interest, anticipating the newcomer. The ends of Itachi's lips turned up, recognizing the noise of the engine. Only one person here drove a bike.

The engine got louder and louder, until finally, a shiny silver and black motorcycle slid round the corner into view. It settled itself next to Orochimaru's Exelero as the engine died down. The driver slid off his ride and took off his helmet, revealing a handsome face and a head of careless, messy black hair.

"Sasuke, what good timing!" Orochimaru cackled. "Your brother and I were just talking about the relocation of your goods." Sasuke merely gave the man a glance and a grunted "Hn" before turning to his brother.

"She's fallen ill and can't move." He stated simply.

Itachi closed his eyes for a few seconds.

"Well, we'll need a doctor then, won't we?" he replied quietly. Sasuke frowned.

"Have we got time for that?"

Itachi thought for a moment, and then gave a sigh through his nose.

"Use the phone in my office." He said.

Somewhere in the crowd, Deidera let out a low growl. Narrowing his eyes, Sasuke gave Itachi a confused look, but obeyed. He grabbed the handles of his bike and wheeled it with him towards the office, leaving the group behind. He could feel Orochimaru's gaze burning into his back; but he did not care.

**

Tenten did not like what she was seeing. The two parties never broke out into a fight; physically or even verbally it seemed; but by the way the men were standing; how they fidgeted; the looks on some of their faces – all that was needed was a shove and hell would break loose. She was curious when another addition arrived on an impressive motorbike. She wondered whose side he belonged to. The grey skinned man had spoken to him first, but he had spoken to Itachi only. She could only guess he was an Akatsuki.

Tenten gulped as the dark haired man made his way towards the office. He was good looking; actually, that was an understatement. He was _very_ good looking – beautiful, even. But she wondered whether he always looked so… so _menacing_. Quickly, she removed her finger from the curtain and scrambled back into a normal sitting position, just in time for him to open the door.

The man seemed just as surprised as she was to see her. He froze for about a second at the sight, and then quickly closed the door behind him with a small 'click'. He stood, staring at her with one of the most piercing gazes Tenten had ever experienced. She tried to look back, but it was a matter of seconds before she could not stand it anymore, and looked away from his eyes – they were hard and cold as stone, as if there was nothing inside. He looked a lot like Itachi, except his hair was shorter, and his face younger. However, he seemed to possess a different type of aura than his older counterpart. Where Itachi ruled over his opponents through influence and charisma; Sasuke simply had 'FEAR ME' written across his forehead – and he defiantly could do it.

"You?" he asked. He sounded like Itachi too, except with a more nasal quality. She swallowed, not wanting her voice to betray the fear inside her.

"Um, yes…me." she replied, not sure whether that was what he was looking for. "Do I know you?"

He grunted.

"Is there any reason why Itachi would tell me to come find you?"

"Itachi told you to come find me?" she blinked. The man sighed, and ran a hand through his already unruly hair and began pacing the room. Somehow, unruly worked so much better for him than the creepy, snake-like guy outside.

"Why are you here?"

"I er… Itachi told me to stay in here until he…"

"No, why did you come here, to Akatsuki?"

"Oh." She stopped. "Eh, well, I was here for a job interview; but I guess that's not happening anymore…"

"What job interview?"

Tenten was starting to get annoyed with his interruptions.

"You guys posted an ad on the papers, didn't you? About wanting to hire an auto technician?"

He stopped and frowned harder at her.

"You're an auto technician." It was not a question, but rather a statement. As if it reminded him of something. "You came yesterday."

"Yes."

His eyes trailed across her body, as if scanning her.

"W…what!?" she exclaimed in embarrassment.

"Come with me." He replied, grabbing her by the wrist. He pulled her towards the back of the office, where she noticed was another door; the back door.

"Woah…w…wait a second." She said, twitching her arm away from his painful grip.

"What is this? What's going on?" He gave her a death glare which almost made her knees give way. But she was not going to give in.

"We've got no time for this." He growled dangerously. "I'll explain when we get there." He made an attempt to reach for her hand again, but she turned away.

"Excuse me." She stated. "It's not _we've_ got no time; it's _you've_ got no time." she folded her arms across her chest.

"Now it seems to me you're asking a favor from me, and I refuse unless you tell me what the hell is happening right _now. _Or else, _you_ _will_ be out of time."

Tenten wondered if he was going to just pick her up and carry her to wherever he wanted her to be by force. It certainly looked as if that thought was going through his head, and he was certainly capable of it. Tenten bit her lip at the sight of his bare, muscular arms and shoulders underneath his black vest. His skin was red – burnt from the harsh summer sun. He was sweating a little, and his breathes were quick and shallow; making his chest rise and fall at a slightly quicker pace than normal. Was he desperate? She wondered if the reason behind all this would make her guilty for lagging him like this.

He took a deep breath.

"That man out there is called Orochimaru." He said calmly.

"Ok" she nodded.

"We've got something…_some things _even, that he wants, but…well…"

"Yes?" she encouraged. He smirked.

"Let's just say he's a bad guy and he will do bad things with them; if he gets his hands on them, that is."

"Uh huh."

"So, we need to get these things out of this place as soon as possible."

Ah, so that was what they were loading.

"One of the vans has broken down about two miles away from here, and we really need it to be up and running before it's too late." He stared at her for a few seconds.

"Help us fix it." he said.

Tenten frowned.

"One." She replied. "If you didn't want this Orochimaru guy to know about these… _things_ you have, then why are you guys taking them away _now_?" she questioned. The boy gave her a puzzled look.

"I mean, shouldn't you have done this earlier, instead of now? Isn't it a little obvious with him watching you guys load a bunch of 'somethings' into a car and revving away?"

"We…" he started.

"And two." She interrupted. "As far as I know, this is a garage. Shouldn't this place be concentrated with people who fix cars? Why _me_, the Konoha student who isn't good enough for you to hire?"

This time, he remained silent.

"And three." She smiled. "My mother always told me to never run off with a stranger - they're dangerous. What do you say about that?"

He gave her a smirk, and unexpectedly, one quick stride was all it took before he was towering over her. She unconsciously stepped back from him – only to hit a wall. She was trapped. He lifted an arm and rested the hand on the wall close to her head; leaning in until their faces were inches apart. He stared into her eyes, locking her gaze so she could not look away.

"One." The man in front of her replied quietly. "Orochimaru came earlier than we expected." Tenten opened her mouth to talk back, but was silenced.

"Two. I think you'd be pretty retarded if you still haven't noticed by now, that this place isn't really a garage."

"Are you trying to say…"

"I never said you were." He finished answering before she had even asked her question.

"And three. My name is Uchiha Sasuke." He leaned his head back so they were at normal distances again. "What's your name?"

"T…Tenten. But I…"

"There, we are no longer strangers. Come now." He took her wrist again.

They were almost at the back door when Tenten halted them yet once more. Sasuke gave her an impatient look.

"Wait." She said. "I have a four."

He lifted an eyebrow.

"If I fix this car of yours, do you promise to hire me?"

**A/N: Mild fluff next chapter. Yay!**


	4. Chapter 4

"If I fix this car of yours, do you promise to hire me?"

Surprisingly, Sasuke shrugged.

"If you want." He mumbled.

Tenten was speechless as she watched the man in front of her step forward to pull the door open. He placed a hand on her shoulder to lead her out of the exit. She shivered at his touch. His hand was hot, extremely rough and calloused, and felt prickly on her back.

"Really? Just like that?" she whispered now that they were out in the open. Sasuke handed her a helmet. The office blocked them from the view of the crowd on the other side, but Tenten could actually catch a stream of conversation now, although she no longer cared for what they were saying.

"Isn't that what you want?" He whispered back, as he put on his own helmet.

"Yeah…" she mindlessly followed his actions, putting the helmet in her hands onto her own head. Suddenly, everything seemed confined and dark. The helmet pressed tightly on both sides of her skull, to the point where she could feel a pulse at where there was most pressure. Her hair felt as if it was being yanked from her scalp. Motorcycle helmets sure were uncomfortable.

She turned to the red and silver motorcycle in front of her.

"A Ducati, huh?" She said, her voice muffled by the piece of plastic on her head.

Sasuke was staring at her.

"Yes." He replied, not taking his eyes off her. "You know about bikes?"

"I know about vehicles in general" she added, slightly smug.

"So how many times have you been on a bike?"

She turned her head to him.

"Why?"

"I should say: have you _ever_ been on a bike?"

"I…is this important?"

"You forgot to unbuckle the strap before putting your helmet on." He said.

She froze as Sasuke lifted the helmet off her head, loosened the strap, and then placed it back onto her head again. She happily obliged when he reached down to do the buckle for her. She had no embarrassment quota left for today.

The helmet now felt a lot snugger around her head instead of feeling as if she had stuffed it into something she shouldn't have.

"You first" Sasuke said, pushing her towards the motorcycle.

Uneasily, she climbed onto the back seat of the Ducati, awkwardly swinging one of her legs over to the other side.

"So you've really never been on a bike before, huh." He said dryly.

She was glad he could not see her blushing beneath the helmet. The truth was, she had seen a lot of motorcycles, read about them, knew about every inch of their structure – she'd even fixed a few, but had never been on one.

"No." she said.

"Why not?" He seemed to be smiling, although she could not tell for sure. The tips of his mouth seemed to be headed up, but his eyes were still the same, cold, dark stones.

"Because my mother doesn't like them."

"Oh. You sure she won't mind you riding this one, then?" Yes, he was defiantly smiling.

"It doesn't matter."

"Why not?"

"Because she's dead."

The movement in Sasuke's face stopped abruptly and his expression returned to how it was just a minute before. _Too bad_, she thought. She had just managed to get something other than stoic out of his face, and now, it had disappeared again.

Without speaking, he climbed onto the seat in front of her, and Tenten suddenly felt the heat emanating from his back, inches from her face. She took a whiff of him – he smelled good. She could not quite put a name on his aroma – in fact, he was a mixture of many smells, a complicated sort of wild, animalistic scent.

"Hold on" he said.

And before Tenten could work out where to put her hands, the engine revved, and in an instant, the bike had accelerated from zero to god-knows-what speed. Tenten let out a quick squeak, throwing away all poise and clasping her hands tightly around Saske's waist.

Before she knew it, they were soaring out the back gate and full throttle into a sandy road with trees and bushes on both sides. Tenten wondered what the people they had left behind were thinking. They must have heard the engine revving up.

Soon, they broke out of the trees and onto a wider cement road which snaked its way across the grassy plains ahead. The sun raged brightly above them. Tenten could hear the wind hitting her helmet and feel it rushing through her hair. The scenery around her came and went too quickly for her to work out, until eventually; it became one streaky blur of colours. The engine rumbled and choked beneath her. At first, the sound was too loud and extremely uncomfortable for her ears, but soon after, the constancy of it allowed her to slowly block it out of her head, until it became nothing but a strange ring at the back of her mind. At every turn and bend, Sasuke's whole body seemed to ripple as he steered the handles about. This… was like how she had always imagined a motorcycle ride would be like. It was an exhilarating sensation – dangerous yet thrilling, and somehow, calming at the same time.

When she felt slightly more comfortable in her position, she allowed her grip around Sasuke's waist to loosen, but at that moment, as if challenging her, he sped up the bike some more, and Tenten grabbed two fistfuls of his vest in response.

She was not sure how long they had been travelling for – it felt like eternity, but sometime later, Sasuke slowed down, and Tenten tilted her head sideways from his body to see ahead. In the distance, she saw a van; it was another Dodge Sprinter Wagon, blue, and a man with a mass of fiery red hair was leaning against it.

The engine began to die down and finally slowed to a stop. Tenten watched as Sasuke removed himself from the motorcycle, and suddenly, the sun was blasting full on at her face. They had parked in the middle of a country road which cut through flat grass fields stretching beyond Tenten's vision. A few trees were scattered here and there, and a row of bushes stood on either sides of the road, but otherwise, the land was bare and level.

"What took you so long?" The red haired man spoke with a sort of bored, monotone voice.

Sasuke did not reply. Instead, he nodded towards Tenten.

"She's here to fix the car." He said.

Realizing nobody was going to greet or help her off the vehicle, Tenten quickly and awkwardly (again, still…) scrambled off the bike and pulled off her helmet. Sasuke stepped up to take it from her.

There was another round of awkward silence, as Tenten stood looking from one man to the other. They both looked back at her, as if expecting her to say something. Soon, she realized that with these two, she was going to have to take the initiative – a lot.

"Well… nice to meet you." she said, looking to Red Hair. "I'm Tenten."

"Nice to meet you too." He replied in a tone which seemed to indicate the opposite.

Silence.

"Uh… what's _your_ name?"

Frowning and a little surprised, Red glanced over at Sasuke to give him a look as if to say _is she for real?_

"His name is Sasori." Sasuke said. "And we don't have much time."

"Fine, got it." Tenten rolled her eyes and turned to the large van in front of her. The head of the car was emanating smoke. Typical.

"So tell me what happened." She started walking over to the hood. The two men followed her.

"I was driving, and then the hood started smoking. Stopped the car and couldn't start it again."

"Sounds like overheating." She said. "Is your air conditioner on?"

"Yes."

Tenten lifted the hood and a rush of white smoke charged at her face, hitting her nose with a metallic, oily smell and heating up her already hot body. She fanned away the smoke with her hand to clear up the view.

"Open the doors, turn off that air conditioner and turn on the heat." She said to them.

"Turn on the heat?" Sasori replied in a tone slightly louder and higher than his usual voice, which, she assumed, was his version of 'exclamation'.

"Yes, the _heat_." she said. "It'll help cool off your car."

The two men obeyed, and as the smoke was finally beginning to clear up, Tenten began skimming around at the interiors of the car.

"Overheating is usually caused by… Aha!" She smiled. Sasori came round to peer over her shoulder.

"You see that?" She said to him. "Broken hose. The coolants have been leaking out all over the place and not going where they need to be."

"Huh." Said Sasori.

She had been hoping for something a bit more impressed and enthusiastic, but ok.

"Have you got a spare hose?"

Sasori frowned again, crossing his arms in front of his chest.  
"Actually…" He mumbled quietly, walking over to the rear of the car and opening the trunk. "Will this work?" He emerged with a coil of black rubber tubing in his hand. "Some spare stuff from last time…" He glanced at Sasuke, who seemed to understand what he was referring to, and nodded.

"Uh… I suppose that will be able to hold for the meantime." Tenten said. "But we best fit it with a proper hose when we get back to the garage."

Sasori tossed the hose over to Sasuke, who took it over to her. Tenten extracted an army knife and screwdriver from her bag and began carefully carving the old hose away.

"You carry a screwdriver in your bag, huh?" Sasori had come back up to the front again, and was leaning in to inspect her work. She would have replied with a _well I _am_ a Konoha engineering student_, but she felt as if she had said that too many times already today (without inducing the desired result), and so, she dismissed the question with a nod and a "Mm…"

A few minutes past – Tenten took little notice of her surroundings and concentrated on fixing the car. The sun shone harshly at her back, and she could feel her t-shirt was heating up. Why, oh why, did she decide to wear black today, godammit.

Somewhere in the grass, cicadas were singing in a loud chorus. She stopped to tie her hair into a quick bun, relishing the whisper of air that was now able to caress her neck, before going back to work again.

When she had fully removed the original hose, she picked up the coil of rubber and began measuring out a segment to cut.

"I hope you don't need this anymore" She said, hacking at the tube. The other two had been silent throughout the whole procedure so far.

"Do whatever you want with her." Sasori replied. Somehow, Tenten shivered, despite the heat, at his words.

Suddenly, a low, steady beat of a hum arose amongst them. It was difficult to tell where the noise was coming from. Tenten stopped momentarily to poke a curious head out, and found Sasuke fishing out a phone from his trouser pocket. It was vibrating, and she watched as he answered.

"What?" he said into the speaker.

If possible, Sasuke's face seemed to turn from solemn to even-more-solemn. After a few seconds, he looked up at Sasori and said:

"He's coming."

As soon as the last syllable of that sentence was uttered, the two men snapped their heads towards Tenten.

"How much longer?" Sasuke almost shouted at her.

"I, uh. I just need to screw this in. Just a minute."

She did not know who 'he' was, and she had no idea what was happening, but somehow, the panicked atmosphere Sasori and Sasuke were emanating had infected her too. Her brain was moving too fast, but her carnal reflexes could hardly keep up, and the imbalance made her hands clumsy. She dropped her screwdriver onto the ground.

"_Easy…_" she said to herself. "_Rushing yourself will only take longer._"

Taking a deep breath, she steadied herself, and began turning the nail again, this time, making sure to take things slow.

"We really need to go." Sasuke said in a dangerously low tone.

"Alright, alright! If you don't want this thing popping out in the middle of your rush to wherever you're going, than shut the hell up and let me do my work!"

Surprisingly, the two men did as they were told and did not make another sound until she pulled her head back up from the hood a minute later and wiped her hands on her jeans. Immediately, Sasuke was at her side to slam the hood close and Sasori was already climbing into the driver's seat of the van.

"Me or you?" Sasori shouted, looking at Tenten.

"They'll be targeting the van, so with me." Sasuke replied. He handed Tenten her helmet again, and pushed her towards the motorcycle.

"Later, if I tell you to do something, _do it_." He said to her in a low growl. "Don't hesitate; don't ask questions, just do as you're told"

"Alright." She replied, lifting the helmet onto her head. He seemed to have established from their previous experience, that she was incapable of buckling her helmet, because he pushed her hands away to do it for her.

"You know, I _can_ strap myself up, I just…"

"Just get on the bike." He said breathlessly.

"Hey!" Sasori shouted from the car window. He threw something at Sasuke, who snatched it from the air with a hand.

"Put this on." He said, handing the lump of blackness over to her. She held it at one end to let it stretch out.

"Leather!" she exclaimed. "In this weather?"

"What did I tell you?" he said.

"Yes, yes." she took it from him and covered herself with the leather jacket.

"Properly!" he said again.

"Sheesh, you sound like my dad!"

He watched as she stretched her arms through the sleeves. The jacket was obviously too big for her, the hem of the body reached Tenten's thighs and the sleeves dangled loosely beyond her hands.

"Zip it up…" he started reaching over to the bottom of the coat, but she pushed his hands away and zipped up the coat herself.

"There, good?" she asked.

"Hn."

Sasuke climbed onto the front seat, and she was immediately surrounded by his wild scent again. The engine revved loudly – by the sounds of it, Sasuke was planning on going _really_ fast. She braced herself by holding on tightly to his waist, sweating from the sun and feeling the leather sticking onto every part of her exposed skin.

The next moment, Tenten felt her heart escape from her chest and choked on her breath. The bike had taken off so suddenly, she had felt it before even realizing it. She listened to the crackle in the engine, and she knew Sasuke was pushing the limits of his bike. She turned her head back and saw Sasori driving the blue van behind them.

Once again, Tenten lost all sense of time and direction. This ride was different from the last. At odd places, Sasuke would make sharp turns. He ignored any lumps and bumps on the road and flew over them. A few times, this caused the bike to actually leap away from the ground, causing a nasty crash of a land every time it hit the floor again.

Then, she suddenly felt Sasuke tense up, and at that moment, she knew whatever trouble they had been escaping from had caught up to them. In the distance, coming head on towards them… Tenten could see it for certain now. It was the Maybach from earlier. The black car zoomed straight past them and then, a few seconds later, they heard a loud, intense screech from behind, and if Tenten's ears were not fooling her, a few gunshots had been fired. She saw Sasuke's knuckles turn white as he gripped firmly onto the break, and she tightened her hold around his waist. She had known this person for less than an hour, and he had pulled her into, what seemed to be, deep trouble already. Yet, he was the only person she could trust at this very moment. Tenten felt the motorcycle lash a terrific U-turn before skidding to a stop.

"Go hide in the bushes." He said to her.

"What?"

"Go and hide in the bushes." He repeated. "Don't come out until I come to get you. If I don't come back this way in 10 minutes, wait until they've gone, then run."

Tenten did as she was told. She crept in behind the row of shrubs on the side of the road and concealed herself, watching Sasuke rev up the engine again and speeded to where Sasori and the Maybach was about 50 meters away. She tried her best to keep still, but her heart was restless. What had happened in that gunfire? Had anyone been hurt? Who had fired them, and what in the world was going to happen to Sasuke now? Yes, she barely knew Sasuke or Sasori, but they seemed nice enough for her to wish they came out of this in one piece.

Tenten squinted her eyes to look into the distance. She could see that the Maybach had its rear towards her, with the front facing the Sprinter Wagon, which had stopped at an odd angle in the middle of the road. The men she had seen earlier, the one with the long hair and pale skin plus the younger man with the silver hair, were making their way towards the back of their car to receive the oncoming Sasuke. This, indeed, was a very lucky layout in a very unlucky situation, Tenten thought.

Sasuke stepped out of his motorcycle and pulled his helmet off. He took a good look at the two men in front of him. Orochimaru and Kabuto. Some people never changed.

"Sasuke, you went off so quickly just now, I didn't even get a chance to catch up with you?" Orochimaru smiled.

"Sorry." He replied. "I have nothing I want to say to you."

"Tsk tsk, what a shame"

Sasuke allowed his gaze to slide towards the blue van beyond the two men in his way. The windshield now sported a visible bullet hole; the glass had crackled around it, extending like a spider's web. He saw Sasori inside; his mass of red hair was visible through the distorted glass, but Sasuke could not tell whether he was moving or not. He felt his fists clench tightly. He had to refrain from doing anything careless right now. He could _not_ let Orochimaru near the car.

"Ahh, Sasuke-kun, relax!" Orochimaru grinned harder. "Isn't this like the good old days? Me and you having a nice little chat?"

"Yes, isn't it nice."

"Of course, that was before you betrayed me. Ah, but let's not bring up old accounts. After all, you got your punishment in the end…" He threw his head back and laughed – a high pitched, ear splitting laugh.

"Orochimaru, you…"

"You can't blame me, my dear Sasuke. From all those years with me, don't tell me you didn't realize that I'm the kind of person who likes to make things fair and square. Now, we're even"

Sasuke opened his mouth to talk back, but suddenly stopped and stared at the movement in front of him.

That. Stupid. Girl…

Tenten was creeping up towards the Maybach behind Kabuto and Orochumaru's back. She seemed to have crawled her way, in the bushes, all the way from where he had dropped her off to where the car was, before stepping out of the bushes again. She gave him a glance and put her finger to her mouth, indicating for him to keep quiet, before giving a mischievous little grin. What the hell was she thinking?

Orochimaru seemed to have noticed Sasuke's change in expression, and began turning his head towards his gaze.

"Orochimaru!" Sasuke shouted loudly. He had to play along with her now. He didn't have a choice.

The two men in front of him turned their heads back towards him.

"Oh, Sasuke, what are you shouting about?"

From the corner of his vision, Sasuke could see Tenten reaching the Maybach. She slowly and silently situated herself at the side of the car next to a wheel.

"You will never get your hands on them, not as long as I'm alive." _Say something really dramatic. Don't let them turn around._ He thought to himself.

"Oh? Well in that case, I suppose you'll have to die then."

Orochimaru gave Kabuto a quick glance, and in an instant, he had whipped out a gun and was pointing it straight at Sasuke.

"You see, Sasuke" Orochimaru continued. "I don't want to do this. You have no idea how much it pains me it has come to this." He was smiling.

Sasuke could not see what Tenten was doing, but she had somehow removed the hubcap of one of the front wheels and was now fiddling around with what was inside.

"Ok." Sasuke said slowly and quietly. "Let's talk." He wished Tenten would hurry up.

"You never were the type to be afraid of guns." Orochimaru cocked a head to one side.

"I'm not." He said. "What do you want to talk about?"

Orochimaru threw his head back and roared out his high pitched laugh again.

"Sasuke, you haven't changed at all!" he shrieked.

Tenten had replaced the hubcap now, and had moved on to the gas tank spout. She had managed to open the gas tank door. Then, she grabbed a pile of leaves from the nearby bushes and began dropping them into the spout. Sasuke smiled.

"Oh, I haven't? How so?" he said.

"Egocentric, as always." Orichimaru replied. Sasuke wanted to roll his eyes. "Tell me, Sasuke. How is someone as power hungry as you content with being in a group like Akatsuki?"

"What's wrong with Akatsuki?"

Tenten fished out a bottle of water in her bag and began pouring its contents into the spout.

BANG!

Kabuto had suddenly fired a shot into thin air without warning, and Tenten fell back onto the ground in shock. With that, Orochimaru and Kabuto turned at the noise and saw Tenten staring back up at them, wide-eyed and frozen.

"What the…" Kabuto mumbled.

"MOVE!" Sasuke shouted at Tenten. With that, she snapped out of her shock and began racing towards the Dodge Sprinter. She could tell the silver haired man was after her. She heard his footsteps and his screams for her to stop. Hastily, she scrambled for the handle of the door to the front passenger seat, and saw a slightly pale faced Sasori grabbing onto his arm. There was a bit of blood on the floor and the seat.

"Were you shot?" she said quickly.

"Just on the arm, what the heck…"

"Drive! Drive!" she shouted at him, as she climbed onto the seat. Kabuto had come sprinting over, and was just a few paces away. She was just about to slam the door when the man called Orochimaru appeared out of nowhere and pulled the door back open to stare right at her. She gasped and saw him raise a hand. Something hit her in the head.

"HEY!" Sasuke shouted.

That was the last thing she heard before she realized black spots were appearing in her vision, and she could no longer tell whether she was still sitting in her seat or had fallen already.

**A/N: Yes, yes, I know, I know. It's been too long. I am awful. But see, I made it up by making this chapter really long, See? 3,963 words! That's double my last chapter! **

***Runs and hides***


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